Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam > Blaise Pascal Instituut > Girard Studiekring > COV&R 2007 > Abstracts Papers 

Stephanie Perdew

Metaphors of Sacrifice in the Liturgies of the Early Church

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ABSTRACT

The paper responds in particular to the following question laid out in the description of Sub-theme 3, question a: “How may we understand violence in Scripture and in the theological tradition with its notions such as the last judgment, the classical doctrine of reconciliation by the blood of Christ, the focus in the Roman Catholic Church on the Eucharist as some kind of a sacrifice while reducing and concealing the notion of the Eucharist as a meal as much as possible?”

With the fall of the Jerusalem Temple to the Romans in 70 C.E., the Jewish ritual setting for sacrificial worship was destroyed, and from the ruins of the Temple, two new religions emerged: what would later become Rabbinic Judaism, and what would later become Christianity.[1]  Both nascent religions grappled with questions of what would constitute their scriptural canon and what would constitute Mishnah and Talmud (in the case of Rabbinic Judaism) or creed and doctrine (in the case of Christianity).  At the same time, the liturgical practice of each religion was evolving, and neither religion adopted or re-instituted a program of animal sacrifice according to Biblical (Levitical) law. 

The liturgical practice of each religion came to focus around meal and study, although in different ways.  Within Rabbinic Judaism, the Sabbath meal took place in the home, and scripture study took place in the synagogue.  Among Christians, scripture study and meal took place first in gatherings in private homes (the earliest sites of Christian worship) and then in churches.  While the liturgical practice of sacrifice was abandoned by each religion, Christian liturgy took up images of sacrifice and employed them in Christian worship.  These metaphors of sacrifice were taken from scripture and from prior Jewish liturgical practice, and were present in some Eucharistic prayers. 

It can be argued from a review of primary evidence that early Christians were quite intentional in using metaphors of sacrifice for a meal which was not in fact a sacrifice, and that their use of such language was self-consciously parabolic.   Just as Girard has argued that Jewish and Christian scriptures are texts in transition showing us an evolution away from a reliance on sacrificial violence toward the recognition of the innocence of the victim, Christian liturgical language is also a text in transition trying to employ and reshape the language of sacrifice, reorienting this metaphor toward images of self-giving, kenosis, and vulnerability of God, self, and community.  Outlining the contours of this argument might allow contemporary Christians  to better critique their own tradition for allowing the metaphorical language of sacrifice to slide toward literalism, and may open the possibility of engaging in theological dialogue regarding whether the use of sacrificial language in Christian worship is appropriate and in what sense.  And of course, at this point, the nuances of Girardian theory and the insights of Girardian strategies for reading scripture can all be employed. 

In order to open up this path of discussion, it is necessary to examine primary source material from the early centuries of the Common Era in order to understand the various ways in which early Christians employed the metaphor and language of sacrifice in their prayers.  Primary sources to be reviewed in this paper include Eucharistic prayers, liturgical instructions, and theological commentary, including the Didache, the writings of Justin Martyr, the Apostolic Tradition and the liturgy of Addai and Mari.

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Rev. Stephanie Perdew

Ph.D. Candidate in Liturgical Studies and Christian Origins, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, Evanston, IL 60201 USA

and Senior Pastor, First Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, 1125 Wilmette Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091 USA, 001-847-251-6660 (telephone), 001-847-251-6130 (fax)